Chest drainage tubes are flexible tubes that are placed into a patient's chest cavity to allow for drainage of fluids following trauma or surgery. These chest tubes have one or more holes at the distal end through which the fluid is evacuated from the chest cavity into the lumen of the chest tube. The proximal end of the chest tube includes connectors to allow for passage of the drained fluids from the lumen of the chest tube into a collection device or apparatus. The chest tubes or collection apparatus typically include features to prevent backflow of air into the chest cavity, thus preventing pneumothorax. These backflow prevention features include shutoff valves and duckbill valves. Typical collection apparatus comprises gravity fed drains or vacuum or pump powered drainage mechanisms.
Chest tubes are typically placed into a patient with a stiff trocar mounted to the internal lumen. The trocar is stiff, relatively pointed at the distal end, and allows for advancement of the flexible chest drainage tube into an incision in the chest wall. The stiff, pointed trocar is useful for initial insertion of the chest tube but becomes a dangerous instrument once the chest tube is advanced below the level of the ribs. Use of such internal trocars is not appropriate for non-physician insertion because of the inherent danger of heart or lung perforation.
Maintenance of sterility has always been problematic with chest tubes. Placement of a chest tube, especially in the emergency setting, requires sterile scrub of the incision area and incision into the chest wall with sterile instruments. These incisions are, understandably, difficult to perform aseptically in the field, where the insertion site may be bloody, dirty or otherwise contaminated. In addition, maintenance of sterility in the area of chest tube penetration into the chest has been difficult as has been the ability to hold the chest tube in position once it has been introduced into the patient. The use of surgical gloves to maintain sterility becomes problematic since the gloves become contaminated quickly in the typical field environment.
New devices and methods are needed to permit rapid placement of chest tubes by less trained individuals in contaminated environments. In addition, improved devices and methods of maintaining sterility at the chest tube wound site and holding the chest tube in place are needed.